


Deflections

by ChasingDaybreak



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Claude doesn't ask for Jeralt's diary, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Fluff, Not Beta Read, Perfect Tea Time, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26585290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChasingDaybreak/pseuds/ChasingDaybreak
Summary: Queen Tiana sees the flat navy blue line on Khalid’s wrist a few days after his birth and her heart stutters in her chest. Either Khalid’s soulmate will be born soon, or they have already passed even before he got a chance to meet them.
Relationships: Claude von Riegan's Father/Tiana von Riegan | Claude von Riegan's Mother, Golden Deer Students & Claude von Riegan, My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 11
Kudos: 146





	Deflections

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I am a FE3H fan…but I’m also a doctor in training. The whole Byleth not having a heartbeat thing has boggled my mind for the longest time and I had a brain fart that wouldn’t go away: what if you were born with your soulmate’s ECG tracing on your arm..? ECGs are pretty technical but I’m sure everyone is familiar: it’s the squiggly lines that indicate the heart’s activity. Those upward and downward strokes are called “deflections,” hence the title. And given Byleth’s condition… IT WOULD JUST BE A FLAT LINE, BRUH. 
> 
> Anyway, belated happy birthday to Queen Byleth.

Queen Tiana feels her heart double in size as she hears her newborn screaming bloody murder into the night. She had never been so exhausted in her whole life, but there was nothing more she wanted than to hold him in her arms. The baby was cleaned and swaddled then handed to her husband who looked like a terrified deer.

Tiana giggles as she feels her happiness seep through her entire being. “You’re doing well, darling,” she says as she beckons him over.

King Rohan slowly makes his way to her, still looking terrified. He hardly looked like the menacing King everyone thought him to be and if this were any other moment, she would laugh at his expression. Instead, she feels warmth in her chest at how he’s already trying so hard to be a good father.

When her husband finally arrives at her side, Tiana holds her arms out for the baby and he obliges her. She gazes fondly at her son, memorizing his features to the best of her ability. He had an adorable, cherubic face and a tuft of dark brown hair on his head. His skin was darker than hers, taking on a color much like her husband’s beautiful brown. His eyes were closed still and she can’t help but wonder what color they will be. He was already perfect in every way.

“What shall we name him, my love?” Her husband all but whispers, as if trying not to disturb this moment. The whole Alymran army would be astounded if they ever found out that their King let an ‘outsider’ name their future King. But Tiana knows her husband loved her and saw her as his equal, they were soulmates after all. It took a while to find each other, but they did and that’s all that matters in the end. She can only hope that her son would be protected from the constant prejudice she has to face in this foreign land she now calls home.

“Khalid. He will be called Khalid,” she says as she kisses her son’s forehead gently.

“Khalid, our son,” her husband, tries the name out for himself and a contented smile stretches across his face.

“Thank you, my love,” he says as he envelopes his little family in his arms.

* * *

She sees the flat navy blue line on Khalid’s wrist a few days after his birth and her heart stutters in her chest. Either Khalid’s soulmate will be born soon, or they have already passed even before he got a chance to meet them. It is believed that those who wait for their soulmate’s birth usually get their soul marks later in life, not so soon after birth. How cruel the fates were. She tries to brush off the sorrow, and watches as her Khalid grows to be a child with the most inquisitive eyes and who asks questions even she sometimes can not answer.

Khalid always looked at Tiana with adoration in his huge emerald eyes. His _mama_ was the best person in the whole world, but he doesn’t speak it aloud for his _baba_ was a jealous man. Khalid loved them both equally, but it was _mama_ whom he beelines for when he’s hurt and in need of comfort. She was beautiful and strong, like a warrior goddess. She was dominant on the battle field and he thinks she was a better shot than even his father, the King of Almyra.

At the tender age of four, Khalid asked Tiana about the mark on his wrist while tracing her own. He asks why his was just a dark blue line but his mother’s was green _like his and baba’s eyes_ and went up and down. Tiana always feared this day would come, but she decides to be honest with her beloved boy. She tells him of how everyone was meant to be with a special person, a soulmate who would fit them like a glove. Someone who would just make sense, who will be able to make you smile even when you don’t feel like it. Someone who would feel like home even if you’ve never met them before.

Tiana explains that the mark reflects this special person’s heartbeat and sometimes even the color of their eyes. She emphasizes to him that not everyone gets a soul mark, and once you have one it never goes away. She wanted to end her explanation there but she knows her son would just ask why his was different so she explains that his soulmate might not be born yet, that’s why his mark was just a straight line. And when she mentions the possibility of his soulmate having passed, she just mentions it as the possibility that it was.

Khalid takes all of this in stride and becomes obsessed with checking if there were any changes to his soul mark. They have to be out there somewhere, right? He has to find them and then he might begin to understand what _mama_ meant when she said finding them would feel like home and making sense.

He _isn’t sure_ it’s a smart thing to dwell on the flat line on his wrist. Whoever his soulmate was, they were either dead or not yet born. He prays to the land, to the water, to all the deities known to him…he prays it is the latter.

* * *

Prince Khalid who once held his palms out open to the world learns to hide most parts of himself. From a child with adorable features who always cried to his _mama_ when his cousins chased him with a knife, Tiana’s heart sinks at the mistrust in his eyes where there was once nothing but wonder. She mourns for her boy, but realizes that this was inevitable. As King and Queen of Almyra, they have tried but there is no protecting their beloved son from every evil the world may throw at him, so they make sure he knows how to defend himself.

Instead of allowing himself to be beaten down, the young prince becomes ready and willing to fight for his place in this world. He wants nothing more than prove his worth as an Almyran and future King, that he wasn’t just an outsider. He discovers that he is gifted skills with a bow like his mother, and decides that he would like to fight on a wyvern like his father.

Eventually, Nader takes him under his wing to teach the boy how to fight properly. Khalid continues to learn and grow in the art of combat at an exceptional rate, surprising even Almyra's most celebrated general. Despite this, he realizes that he abhors fighting and would rather do what it takes to avoid conflict. He adapts by starting to tinker with poisons and learning how to _scheme_.

As the years trickle by, teenage Khalid watches as no change comes to his mark. He was fourteen now and his hope dims with every year that passes. He starts to understand why his dearest _mama_ was always upset at the mention of soulmates when he was around. The possibilities of ever meeting them were growing slim.

The scales have tipped in favor for his soulmate being dead and he _knows_ now that it’s not a smart thing to dwell on his soul mark. This is proven by how he was almost killed by another of his aunts’ assassins because he was daydreaming of what-could-have-been.

After that incident, he learns to cover it with as many colorful bracelets and bands as he can find in his mother’s cabinet. He likes to convince himself that he forgot about it.

* * *

When the letter from Oswald von Riegan comes, Khalid becomes determined to make something of his Fódlan blood. His _mama_ was very opposed to the idea of shipping off her only son to the very place she fled from, but Khalid knows a golden opportunity when he sees one. This was a chance for him to see his dreams come to fruition and to prove to Almyrans that those of Fódlan origin were not cowards.

It took a lot of convincing and a non-negotiable promise but Tiana eventually comes around to the idea of Kh— _Claude_ learning the culture of her side of the family. She never tried to hide anything from him and he does his own reading, but experiencing Fódlan for himself imight bring him new insight.

Despite herself, Tiana only hopes that he finds that the good things Fódlan offered far outweighed the bad. When that realization comes, she can only hope that he doesn’t judge her for her decision to leave her home. She knows her father will take good care of him and she knows Judith of House Daphnel, her childhood friend, is just a letter away.

“He can defend himself, he’ll be okay,” Tiana repeats to herself day in and day out as her son’s departure draws near.

Claude promised her and Rohan that once he was the Duke of the Leicester Alliance, he would find a way to shift leadership to another House and in that time, he would keep his identity as Almyra’s Prince a secret. His goal was to make sure the Alliance did not collapse without House Riegan, and if he bettered relations with Almyra, well that was just another of his schemes.

What Claude didn’t disclose to his parents was if he somehow found a way to unite Fódlan and Almyra to have a world without borders where no one was considered an outsider…well, that was mere coincidence.

* * *

Year 1180, Lone Moon

Claude learns that the calendar in Fódlan is different from that of Almyra but not by much, just that the months were called a certain kind of moon. He finds this fascinating and wonders why it differed at all.

After establishing Claude’s identity as heir to house Riegan, Duke Oswald sends him to attend the Officer’s Academy in Garreg Mach Monastery and Claude was definitely excited. He knew that the students attending that academy were from influential families of the Adrestian Empire, Kingdom of Faerghus, and Leicester Alliance. He could use this opportunity to network, get to know the future leaders of Fódlan, learn all their secrets, and maybe even get them to trust him. Besides that, he also set his mind to learning all about the Church of Sieros. It really was all too convenient that Garreg Mach was pretty much the center of the religion.

When he gets to Garreg Mach, he is appointed house leader of The Golden Deer. Claude doesn’t mind since it makes his networking that much easier, but he wonders if any of his classmates had a problem with this development.

The only one who gets on his nerves is Lorenz Hellman Gloucester and he isn’t really all that surprised because Count Gloucester was already giving him a hard time at those Alliance roundtable meetings. He reminds himself to be extra careful around Lorenz. It wasn’t just Lorenz though. Another interesting character to note was Hilda Valentine Goneril who always wore a mask of helplessness. It took Claude a bit of observation to realize just how cunning she really is. She only used her schemes for menial tasks though and Claude is relieved, but still wary.

The rest of his classmates seemed “harmless enough” for the lack of a better term, but each had strengths that definitely added value to their House. He respects each of them and hopes to be a good leader for them. Eventually their House builds its reputation of being the rowdy bunch. They’re known as the class with the leader who often starts trouble instead of keeping the peace, but Claude finds that he doesn’t mind. They’re probably having the most fun, after all.

* * *

Year 1180, Great Tree Moon

Claude is running for his life. It wasn’t supposed to play out like this, they were just out doing training exercises. There weren’t supposed to be any bandits! And they most certainly weren’t supposed to get separated from the rest of the class! He hoped Edelgard and Dimitri didn’t follow him so the bandits wouldn’t come after them all, but the footsteps he hears just behind him tells him they didn’t do as he hoped.

If he were being honest, he could probably take on bandits, but not at such a close range! And he’d like to keep his secrets longer thank you very much. No one needs to know how good of a shot he is…yet.

They emerge from the woods and come upon a small village. They spot some horses that were being loaded with supplies and around them were roguish looking men, all equipped. As Dimitri speaks to one of them to request help, Claude realizes that he read them right: mercenaries.

As luck would have it, the group of mercenaries were headed by Jeralt Eisner, known as the Blade Breaker who was apparently a former Captain of the Knights of Seiros and his daughter, Byleth Eisner. She had an emotionless face that bothered Claude, and something about her that seemed eerily familiar…but that was hardly anything to dwell on right now. A silent thanks goes to the stars when the Eisners decide to help them rout the bandits pursuing them.

Claude doesn’t realize it in the moment but when he looks back at this exchange, he would realize that this is where everything started to change.

* * *

When she chooses to teach the Golden Deer, he hopes his relief wasn’t obvious to those around him. This stranger was too valuable of an asset to give up to Edelgard or Dimitri. She was too fascinating and so much of her was yet unknown. He’s never seen anyone like her. If he were being honest, her fighting reminds him of Almyra’s own Demon Queen. But at such a young age, there had to be a secret to her power and identity. Thus, Claude starts seeing her as a puzzle he doesn’t wish to let go of until he’s solved.

“Don’t tell me. You chose this class just to get to know me better, right? I’m flattered, really,” Claude says with a wink at the new professor’s direction. Maybe if he lays in on thick, she’ll eventually crack..? Claude doesn’t really know, but he lets his words drip with confidence and teasing.

What Claude doesn’t realize is how true his statement was. To Byleth, she knew exactly why she picked The Golden Deer. Besides her genuine interest in each of the students, Byleth has never seen eyes in the shade of Claude’s her whole life. She has only ever seen that shade of green on her left arm, her soul mark. She looks at him and just knows, it feels like something unreachable was falling into place.

She’s not really sure it was a good idea to work so close alongside him when she knows she wasn’t going to do anything about their connection. She just wanted to know him, that’s all.

Jeralt didn’t say much when she showed him her soul mark when she was a child. He emphasized that she should keep it a secret because it’s dangerous information. He did say though that when she met her soulmate, she’d just know. She thought it would go both ways but Claude only looks at her with distrust and she pretends it doesn’t affect her.

* * *

Year 1180, Blue Sea Moon

Byleth’s presence makes him uncomfortable. She had a vacant stare and a stone-faced expression that never changed no matter how much blood was spilt in front of her. Ashen Demon indeed. But that’s the thing, Claude couldn’t read her at all…and yet he feels comfortable enough around her that he catches himself relying on her. He doesn’t call it trust yet because she’s still a mystery, but he relies on her skills which speak for her in volumes. He knew relying on anyone here was dangerous for someone like him.

In spite of that, he finds himself having tea with her on most days after class. He would often bend her ear talking about a variety of topics, even his controversial opinions on the Church of Seiros.

They’ve already been on two missions together. Their first was in Zanado, where they came across Kostas, the bandit who chased them back in Remire Village. Their second mission was one that left Claude with a bitter taste in his mouth, it was when they took down Lord Lonato’s rebellion. In both instances, Teach never failed to show her strength and tactical genius.

Claude’s reliance in her just keeps growing. When they descended to the Holy Tomb and Teach was suddenly wielding the Sword of the Creator, that was the moment he decides he isn’t letting her go. He knew of that Sword, heard the legends of how it could split mountains in two. The fact that it glowed in her hands even without a Crest Stone and her claims of not knowing of her Crest…he’d be a fool to let her power slide.

He does feel like a fool though when he realizes that interrogating her about her identity and connection to the King of Liberation was not the right way to go about things. He feels regret start to seep in his bones when Teach’s face falls the tiniest bit when he doesn’t believe her. It would have been so easy to miss, but Claude has always watched her too closely and he becomes aware that she isn’t so unfeeling.

He tries to apologize but before he even begins, Judith shows up to ferry him off to Derdriu.

* * *

Year 1180, Verdant Rain Moon

Claude watched as Sylvain asked Teach to be transferred to the Golden Deer. The red haired student was trying to be his flirtatious self with Teach and Claude feels a little bit of what might be jealousy when Teach agrees to let him join their class.

If Claude were to harbor a guess, he thinks it’s because Sylvain somehow knew of the mission they will be assigned this month. It didn’t make much sense to leave your childhood friends and future King just to learn from some former mercenary. But then again, this was Teach we were talking about so he takes that back. He might have done exactly what Sylvain did and transferred Houses if he weren’t house leader.

On the mission, the Deer watch in horror as Miklan transforms into a beast for wielding the Lance of Ruin despite not having a Crest. Teach stands tall and menacing in front of them, Sword of the Creator glowing red in her hand, as if to shield them from the monster the elder Gautier sibling has become.

So this is why those without a compatible Crest aren’t allowed to wield Relics. Claude could feel the bile rise in his throat but he pushes it down. Just what kind of Goddess did this land have, to be so malevolent to her own creation, and how come the people of Fódlan just accept this religion blindly? Also, it still didn’t answer Claude’s question of how Teach was able to wield the Sword of the Creator without a freaking Crest Stone.

He is reminded that now isn’t really the time for thinking of such things when he hears Lysithea casting a spell. Right, they still had to take Miklan down.

When they get back to the monastery, they are only congratulated by Lady Rhea before Seteth comes barging in with a look of obvious worry in his face.

* * *

Year 1180, Horsebow Moon

Turns out, Flayn was missing and Seteth was worried out of his mind because Flayn wasn’t one to wander off. Not to mention, there were rumors of a Death Knight who was going on a rampage at night and killing innocents.

The Knights were tasked to search in the village while the rest of the Officers Academy searched high and low in the monastery. Claude has to wonder why this much effort was being put to finding Flayn. Did the Knights not have anything else to attending to? Was Flayn’s blood really that valuable? Why?

By the end of the month, they finally found a lead in the form of an unconscious and stabbed Manuela.

Claude regrets not being with the Deer when they investigate the Dark Knight’s underground chambers. He lived it vicariously through his classmates’ stories of warping tiles and tough enemies. He laments the most when Ignatz paints him a picture of how powerful the Professor was while wielding her Sword, of how the Death Knight barely got away from her.

When Flayn and the other student was being carried to the infirmary, Claude is left alone with Teach.

He may not have been there with them but he was grateful for _right now_ , because it was in that moment when Claude is finally blessed with the sight of Teach’s smile. It catches him off guard, but it makes him feel like he’s finally doing something right.

* * *

Year 1180, Wyvern Moon

Besides the fact that The Battle of Eagle and Lion was a tradition of a land Claude himself was new to, he couldn’t help but be excited at the thought of fighting alongside his classmates. It has been a while with them, and he has already started to rely in each of them. They’ve all grown as people and fighters, and Claude is proud of this rowdy bunch of misfits.

Not to mention Teach.

His Teach was amazing. There was really no other way to put how graceful she was when she fought, how never lost her cool and commanded The Deer with all the confidence in the world. She grounded them all and kept them safe. The way she fought ferociously to protect them was another thing he came to respect about her.

When the Golden Deer are proclaimed winners, Claude declares that they will have a ‘grand’ feast with the other Houses in attendance. Students just having fun with other students. No borders, a little glimpse of his dream.

At the feast, he can’t believe eats so much he actually passes out. When he wakes up to everyone praising and thanking Teach, he realizes that he trusts these people. They’re like a little family and Claude finds that he likes the idea, even surprising himself with the thought that he hasn’t been this happy in a while.

* * *

Year 1180, Ethereal Moon

It felt so wrong to be celebrating all sorts of things this month with what they saw in Remire Village so fresh in their minds. Villagers out of their minds like monsters attacking each other. Claude still shudders at how disgusted he was when it was revealed to be just an experiment. How sick in the head were these people?

He feels utterly ridiculous, but Claude finds himself dancing his way to the White Heron Cup at Teach’s request anyway.

“Ah, what a burden to be great at everything,” he jokes as he raises the Cup towards the Golden Deer and they cheer.

Teach smiles at his antics and says, “I told you you’d do well. Trust in me a little more, no?”

She meant it innocently enough, but it was enough to warn Claude that she had no idea how much he trusted her. It eats at him for days, but he hasn’t had an opportunity to talk to her about the matter.

After the White Heron Cup, the monastery becomes abuzz with the excitement of the Annual Ball coming up. With it, romance and the Goddess Tower became the hottest topic of gossip. It was entertaining to hear what everyone was saying about the tower, but Claude knew it was just a silly legend probably made up by a student generations ago. Besides, he didn’t really believe in the goddess so he can’t imagine her looking on him favorably.

Given the atmosphere, conversation of soulmates shouldn’t have come as a surprise. However, Claude finds himself startled all the same when Lorenz puts him on the spot as they waited for Teach in their classroom.

“Claude, you are the future Duke of the Alliance. Do you have a soul mark?” Lorenz inquires with haughty infliction.

The usual chatter in the room falls silent as everyone turns to Claude and awaits his answer.

“No, I don’t. And what’s with the ‘future Duke’ business?” Claude says with an easy smirk, feigning comfort and ease. He was lying through his teeth, but with a dead soul mate…it’s not really lying, is it?

“Well, as you may be the future leader of the Alliance, I am concerned for what kind of partner you will marry,” Lorenz replies.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” Leonie interjects, annoyed at Lorenz once again.

“Claude should marry whoever he wants,” Raphael booms from across the room.

“I wish I had a soul mark,” Hilda sighs with a pout.

“I’m happy I don’t,” Lysithea says with a smile that Claude couldn't read as either happy or sad. Maybe Lysithea wasn’t sure either.

As if on cue, Teach arrives and the class quiets as they watch her with curiosity. Teach just stares back with an eyebrow raised, daring them to ask whatever it was they obviously wanted to ask.

“What about you Professor, do you have a soul mark?” Hilda breaks the silence, curiosity taking the best of her and if Claude could high five her in this moment he would, but she was two desks away.

“I, I—No, I don’t,” Teach stutters but her face doesn’t change. She never stutters, and now Claude’s interest was piqued. It seems like his Teach might have a soul mark. Interesting indeed.

“Saaame, Professor. I wish I had one too,” Hilda replies with a dramatic sigh, leaning on the desk with her chin resting on her palm like a dejected puppy.

“Okay, enough of this. Today’s discussion is about tactical formations we had like in Remire Village and how we can break monsters’ armor faster,” Teach announces before anyone else can mention anything. Hilda seems appeased for the moment. The class settles down and continues just like any other day.

* * *

Before the Ball began, Claude pitched the idea of a reunion during the Millennium Festival. Five years seems so far away, but soon enough he’ll see the Deer as who they were supposed to be, like Lysithea said. It was childlike and almost impossible, but they made a promise and he was already looking forward to it. Where or what would he be by then? Duke of the Alliance, perhaps. With Teach by this side? He sure does hope so.

If Claude followed her up the Goddess Tower, he didn’t have to admit that to anyone. She probably left the hall to escape and if he hadn’t been watching her the whole night she would’ve gotten away unnoticed.

He’s not sure what pushes him to do it, maybe the night sky he always adored, maybe the fact that he really enjoyed dancing with her, maybe it was the festive atmosphere, or maybe it was all of it combined. They were here alone together, it was the perfect opportunity. Claude takes a deep breath and decides to reveal a truth about himself.

He tells her that he has ambitions, pretty big ones that might not even be attainable. He asks her to share in these ambitions, and in that gesture hopes that she has a glimpse of how much she has come to mean to him. He has grown to trust her and unconsciously, he was already building a place for her in the future he foresees.

The whole time Claude talks about his dreams, Teach just watches with a softness in her smile he hasn’t seen before, and Claude finally feels _heard_.

Upon inquiry, she tells him that she doesn’t actually have any ambitions, just a hope. She doesn’t go further and as curious as he was, Claude does not push this time. It was too beautiful a night for his questions, they can wait. He just wants to bask in Teach’s presence. And so, at the top of the Goddess Tower, they pray to a goddess neither of them actually believe in. It’s silly, but it was worth the shot.

When he retires for the night, Claude finally takes the time to observe his soul mark. It has been feeling weird as of late, like an itch. The strange sensation only intensified when he danced with Teach earlier, so he chances a glance to see if he was having an allergic reaction to the accessories he wore over it and he finds none. With how much poison he’s been exposed to, he isn’t surprised. So what was that itch?

He slowly takes in the straight line on his wrist, tracing it’s path across his skin. It has been years since he spared it more than a glance. He only remembers that it brought nothing but loneliness, it was a reminder that he truly was alone and an outsider wherever he went. Soul marks were rare so he was lucky enough to have one and yet, he feels a loathing towards it for all the missed opportunities it represents.

Nothing has changed. His soul mark was still as straight as ever, still an indicator of a soulmate lost to death, a soulmate whose heart doesn’t beat anymore. In the low light, it was a very dark midnight blue. With startling clarity, it dawns on Claude that it’s the same color as Teach’s eyes earlier this evening when they were praying at the tower with the stars as their witness.

The bizarre itch only grows and Claude doesn’t understand it. It was his Teach’s eye color, but Teach was very much alive and well. There was no way they were connected in that sense.

But if they were, he wouldn’t be opposed to the idea at all. In fact, he’d even say he was blessed.

* * *

Year 1180, Guardian Moon

It has been raining continuously for days. It suits the mood of the whole monastery. They lost Jeralt Eisner and it was felt heavily. Claude hadn’t seen Teach in days and barely anyone has spotted her. A rare sighting at the dining hall, an even rarer one at the greenhouse, and no report of her fishing at all. He is beginning to worry so he sets out in search for her.

It is in Jeralt’s quarters where Claude finds her hunched in on herself at her father’s old desk, clinging to what looked like a worn notebook.

He still has both of his parents, so he is in no position to begin empathizing with her but his heart breaks for her all the same. From what he knew of Byleth, Jeralt was all she had. All he can do now is let her have her space and then assure her that when the opportunity arose, her Golden Deer will be by her side to lend a hand.

“Hey Teach, how you holding up?” He says in greeting and flinches at his stupid question.

Teach just looks at him as he appraises her. She kept her stone-faced expression but Claude can see how tired she is. She has dark circles under her bloodshot eyes that seem to be glazed over with tears that refuse to fall. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to hold her and let her allow those tears to go. He would tuck her under his chin and let her sob it out but he wouldn’t unless she asks. He knows his place as her student but not being able to comfort her just felt so wrong, not to mention the soul mark that was once again letting its presence known with a prickling sensation.

“Just wanted to let you know that your Deer are always here for you, Teach. If you decide that you want revenge, I - no - we’ll be with you. If you decide to just forget about the whole ordeal, we’ll do our best to help you as well. If you need someone to talk to, I’m willing to listen. And if you just wanna sit in silence, I’m also down for that,” Claude tries to convey to her the lengths he was ready to go just to offer her comfort. He can only hope that it is enough to remind her that she isn’t as alone as she might believe.

“Thank you, Claude,” Byleth says with a small and uneven tilt to her lips. It wasn’t quite a smile, but Claude takes it as a win anyway because it’s a sure sign that he got through to her.

* * *

The opportunity to help his Teach presents itself when the report of Solon and Monica’s whereabouts arrive. Claude comes running to Teach with the news but before they can make any plans, Rhea shows up to deny Teach her revenge.

Rhea and Seteth try to convince Teach that it’s probably a trap and she should not risk herself. But Claude already saw the determination in her eyes even before they got here so he steps in and does what he does best.

The Golden Deer House Leader reminds them of how of the knights would take too long to come back and how sending the remaining knights would leave Garreg Mach unprotected. Claude does not fail to clarify that this will not be a mission of revenge, but one to gather information on the enemy’s motive and plans. He lets his voice ring true as he convinces them to make a tactical move and send out their best commander: Teach. He also emphasizes that she wouldn’t be alone, she will have her Deer who have been fighting with her and following her command for most of the year…and the best part of it all was that they were all ready to leave.

Hesitant, Rhea confirms this with Teach and with resolve, Teach agrees with a single nod of her head. Orders to defeat the enemy in the Sealed Forest are given and before long, the Golden Deer set out towards the hostile group.

Before they break through to the Sealed Forest, Claude addresses his classmates one more time. He reminds them that they have to be very careful because there was a ninety-nine percent chance that it was a trap. There was no room for mistakes here. They were here to gather information, but if Teach got her revenge that was just a lucky twist of fate.

“Thank you, Claude,” Teach says with a grateful smile. He feels his heart skip a beat and the soul mark on his wrist thrums with energy.

“For you, Teach, anything. Let’s go!” Claude replies with his own smile, meaning every word.

* * *

They were winning and everything was going smoothly. Claude always kept Teach in view to make sure she doesn’t do anything too drastic. She was chasing Kronya and she was getting farther, but not too far that he couldn’t see her so he doesn’t worry. From this distance, he could still shoot down any enemy that comes too close to her.

But when that fog of black magic rises around Teach and Kronya, Claude’s heart falls to his stomach. He’s running before he knows it.

As quickly as it came, the fog was gone…along with Teach.

Solon threatens them that he sent Teach to a dimension of nothingness which she would eventually be one with, but all Claude hears is that she’s still alive. He finds solace in that and tells himself to calm down. She’ll find her way back to them, she always did. They just have to keep it together, beat the remaining enemies, and she’ll come back. That’s more than enough for him.

Claude prepares to command the Deer, but he doesn’t get the chance because something is suddenly tearing a hole in the sky and all he sees is mint green hair and eyes and the glowing Sword of the Creator in her hands. She was breathtaking, alive and _here_.

Is that Teach? What the hell happened to her?!

They finish up the enemies and he can’t believe he’s saying this but Teach is so much stronger now. Her power at this point is unfathomable and he can’t wrap his head around it so he bursts and interrogates her as soon as they defeat Solon.

“I’ve always had another conscience living in my head with me, even as a baby. Her name was Sothis and I only confirmed while I was held in that nothingness that Sothis is in fact the goddess who watches over Fódlan. She mentioned something about Rhea allowing her to live inside me but I don’t really understand how that came to pass. As goddess, Sothis was the only one who could ever leave that darkness but she didn’t have a body of her own so she gave her power to me. We fused and now I can’t hear her anymore. That’s why my appearance changed as well, I think, she did have green hair…” Byleth answers, trailing off. She knew it sounded ridiculous but she wanted to be as honest as possible, there was no use lying to him anyway.

Claude finds all this hard to swallow, farfetched and just downright impossible but if he took everything he knew about Byleth…he knew all this was true. He did just witness her ripping a hole through space, time, and reality. Before he could further discuss with her, she falls.

Claude’s heart paused but then he realized she was just asleep and once again, relief flooded him. This woman was going to give him a heart attack, he just knows it.

He asks Hilda to carry Teach but she refused, stating that her arms were too thin and she really couldn’t. Claude knew she was just making excuses, her weapon was an axe that she had no trouble swinging around all day. So with a sigh, Claude picks up Teach and carries her himself. He used one arm to support her upper body, and the other to support her legs. He’s almost surprised at how small she felt in her arms. Because of how powerful she was and how she always protected them, it's easy to forget that she was smaller than him and that she might need protecting too. With her face relaxed in sleep, she looks at peace and Claude vows that no further harm will come her way if he could help it.

Leaving her to Rhea’s care after what he learned today was one of the most difficult things he’s done. It all felt so wrong. Claude couldn’t brush off the feeling that she was in even more danger now, he needs to protect her from the Archbishop. He couldn’t do anything about it though, he had no way of arguing why he wouldn’t give up his professor to the highest figure of authority in this academy. So he hands Teach over with a sigh.

After a visit to the infirmary, Claude retires to his room. His mind was too awake to rest, so he decides to work on his poisons instead. Before going to work though, he wanted to check on his soul mark because it really has been bothering him with that strange tingling sensation. As he peeled off the last of the bracelets he wore to hide it, he ends up dropping them.

The shape of it hadn’t changed, it was still just a flat straight line. But its color…from its original midnight blue that Claude had learned to love, it is now a shock of mint green on his skin.

“It has to be her,” Claude whispers aloud.

In that whisper, Claude finally admits his own hopes as warmth floods through his being. He had denied himself even the possibility of a soulmate for years, and now that he might be proven wrong, he finds himself clinging to hope with both fists.

If she wasn’t his soul mate, his heart would be crushed yet again. It doesn’t matter to him though, he’s already weighed the pros and cons. Logic and science dictates that this would more likely go south because it wasn’t possible for anyone alive to not have a heartbeat. But he was never one to bet against Byleth. She was worth it.

* * *

The moment Claude hears news of the Professor waking up and going around campus on her free day, he seeks her out. He feels half bad about stealing her time, but this really can’t wait.

He finds her admiring the sunflowers in the greenhouse and it makes him smile. Claude once thought it silly to have decorative plants when this was where they got their food, but watching her admire them…he finally understands the appeal.

Teach notices his arrival right away. She turns towards him and gives him a soft smile even before he’d opened his mouth in greeting. Unknown to her, wyverns beat their wings in Claude’s gut at the sight. He had always know that she was a sight to behold, but wow. It was like seeing her with new eyes. She looked so different, yet she still felt the same to him. His strong and reliable Teach.

“Hey Teach! How you feeling? Glad to see you finally awake,” He greets, smiling in return.

“I feel a lot better now. Refreshed, actually,” she replies.

“Would you like to have tea, Teach? I’ll host!” Claude says excitedly.

“As long as you have snacks,” Teach replies with a small laugh.

Claude leads her to his dorm room. The gardens around the campus were beautiful and the weather was nice but he would rather not let anyone in on their upcoming conversation. No one needs to know he had a soulmate, much less that he had the audacity to think it was Teach. No matter the outcome, he’d like to keep this a secret for a while.

When they get to his room, Claude watches as Teach makes herself comfortable on the chair adjacent his study table. Her eyes flit across the room, taking in the organized mess that he calls ‘functional’.

There were books and random pieces of paper with his handwriting and doodles scattered on the bed, arrows in one corner of the room, a tapestry of the Leicester Alliance’s banner on a wall, and another smaller desk with what Byleth could only deduce as tea essentials. At least the floor was clean of his clothes, right? Her eyes fixate on the lot of vials of different fluids on the desk in front of her.

“You didn’t bring me here to poison me, did you?” Teach asks with a lilt to her voice. She was already back to joking, and Claude was glad.

“Of course not! I just wanted to talk about things,” Claude replies, ambiguous as ever.

“Oh. What is it then?” She presses.

“Wait, lemme just prepare the tea then we can talk,” he says as he busies himself with the teapot and cups on the only other table in the room.

When the tea was ready, Claude brings the set over to her with the snacks he knows she enjoys. He then drags the only other chair in the room towards her’s then he proceeds to pour tea for both of them. He waits for her to finish taking a sip of Almyran Pine Needles before speaking.

“So Teach, feel free to tell me if you would rather not continue this conversation at any time at all. It’s not really a comfortable topic to talk about,” he begins.

“You’re making me nervous. What is it, Claude?” Teach asks.

“Teach…remember that day Hilda asked you in class if you had a soulmate and you said no?”

She nods, not liking where this was going.

“Is that true? Or was that a lie?”

Byleth sighs, and looks down at her arm which was currently covered by her arm guards. It seems she has been found out, she might as well be honest now.

She doesn’t give him a reply, but she does take off her left arm guard and Claude watches with bated breath.

“ _Please be green please be green please be green_ ,” he finds himself chanting in his head. He really wouldn’t know what to do if it was anything but green.

When the arm guard comes off, Byleth angles her arm in a way for Claude to see the soul mark she had on the underside of her forearm. It was emerald green, exactly like his eyes, and it had peaks and troughs.

It was exactly what he had hoped for, something he never allowed himself until recently. He thought he was ready to see it, he had even rehearsed how he’d tell her that he had the matching mark but Claude just finds himself at a loss for words.

He knows that he was currently a sight for sore eyes, staring at her arm with his mouth open and tears starting to form in his eyes. The rush of joy and belonging took his breath away.

“Teach, I…wow,”

“You don’t have to say anything Claude. It doesn’t have to mean anything, and I know you don’t believe in that sort of thing so…” Byleth continues, looking down at her teacup and hiding her eyes from him.

That won’t do. There was no reason to hide now. He doesn’t let her finish as he all but rips the sleeve on his uniform in his haste to take off the bracelets he had been using to cover his own soul mark.

“That’s not it, Teach. We match. I didn’t think we would, but I wanted it to be you so bad,” Claude’s voice comes out as a whisper.

He takes her hand and traces the mark on her arm. Slowly and gently, like a feather’s touch, afraid to scare her away. Byleth shivers and when he finally looks up at her, she blushes and smiles the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen. It stretched across her face and softened her eyes, it radiated happiness.

Claude couldn’t help the single tear that trails down his cheek as she took her tome to trace his soul mark. The straight line that haunted him for years and made him feel nothing but loneliness now felt like salvation. When she was done, he reaches out for her and finally holds her in his arms. It was awkward because they were both seated, but the moment Byleth returned the embrace, it didn’t matter anymore.

After a moment, they let go and just smiled at each other for a while. It was silly and they probably looked like fools but neither cared. Claude comes back to his senses and asks the most important question he has, something he can’t figure out even now.

“Soul marks reflect a soulmate’s beating heart, right? Why is my soul mark a flat line, Teach? This whole time I thought you were dead,” he asks.

“Oh. About that, I don’t have a heartbeat,” Teach just says it like she was just stating the weather.

“What?! How is that possible?” Claude couldn’t help his curiosity. Teach almost laughs at his antics.

“Don’t believe me? Come here,” she says as she stands next to him and guides his head towards her chest with her hand, right above her heart.

Claude couldn’t help the blush that rises to his ears, but he focuses on finding the familiar _lub dub lub dub_ of a normal heart. When he finds none, he looks up at Teach.

She just shrugs at the question in his eyes and says, “another mystery to solve.”

Claude couldn’t help the laugh that bubbles out of him at that. She really was an inconceivable person. And she was his soulmate! It was all absurd but he was so ridiculously happy in this moment. He stands from his seat and wraps his beloved Teach in his arms properly this time. He wraps one arm around her back, and the other gently on the back of her head. He tucks her head under his chin and takes in the scent of vanilla. She clings to him the same way, it was like she belonged here in the space between his arms and Claude finds that he never wants to let go.

In that moment, Claude finally understands what _mama_ said when she told him that finding your soulmate was like coming home. It took a while and a lot of heartache, but he has finally found her. His home. His most trusted ally and friend turned out to be his soulmate. Stars, he wasn’t alone anymore. He has to be the luckiest man alive.

“I finally found you,” Claude whispers against her hair.

“You finally recognize me,” she says with wistfulness in her voice and Claude gently lets go of her to look her in the eyes and let his curiosity run free once again.

“What do you mean?” He asks.

“Dad told me when I was younger that when you meet your soulmate, you’d recognize them immediately. I knew it was you the moment I met you. But you only looked at me with distrust, and so I began to doubt…” Byleth admits, voice getting smaller.

“I apologize for that, Teach,” Claude mourns the moments missed, but he also knows that he wouldn’t have it any other way. He couldn’t imagine himself accepting a soulmate without knowing them first. Everything that happened so far brought them to this moment. He had already admired her even when he didn’t know she was his soulmate, and they now that they were _friends,_ he’s sure that this was better.

“Yeah, I don’t blame you and it’s all in the past. But what now?” She asks him with a tilt of her head.

“Now, we make our dreams come true. Together,” Claude clasps her hand in his.

“Together,” Byleth replies, squeezing his hand and gifting him another of her radiant smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> If you reached the end, thank you for reading this fic! Have a great day!!!


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